Firestone Hot Springs Plenty of Fish In The Sea

Steam eminated from the pools of hot water, rising in tendrils along the ground and shrouding sight in every direction. The smell was actually worse than his own musk, which was a pleasant surprise to the earth toned brute. With every step he could feel the warmth on his toes as he eyed the waters to find one that would suit him. 

Below him was a carcass. Unknown origin, but fresh to the smell. Wet as water and blood pooled around it. Clearly whatever it was previously, he must have fished it from the water and began devouring. Filling his belly quickly before anyone smelled the blood among the sulfuric smell and investigate the scene. The steam made a fantastic cover for an ambush, as well as the already acrid smell... this could make a fantastic hunting ground for the man cloaked in soil.

@Tzila

Set several hours after [url=https://wolf-rpg.com/showthread.php?tid=34819&pid=377758 - pid377758]
this[/url] thread. Keeping details loose.

After all the chaos that had ensued back at Elysium and that damned bear, Tzila needed to get away. As she carved a path farther from home, the events replayed over and over before her eyes. The cubs... Lily being thrown to the ground... Her body still, never to take a breath again... All that blood...The metallic tang in the air...the taste on her tongue. Adrenaline still pumped like hot fire through her veins.

Were it not for the pitch black fur covering the majority of her body and the crimson russet on her nape, the blood matting her coat would have been an eyesore. Some of it was hers, some of her packmates. But mostly it belonged to the bear. Still wet, it shone slickly against her coat, dribbling down her legs. She left a trail of bloodied pawprints as she walked, allowing the smell of sulfur to guide her.

Her nose wrinkled as she stood before the edge of a hot spring pool, her eyes narrowed in scrutiny. As badly as she needed a bath, taking a dip in these rancid waters wouldn't leave her smelling like roses again. Besides, anything could be in there. Just like the example of the remains of a carcass a nearby wolf had pulled out of another pool. Her lips curled in a silent sneer, not towards him but at the memory of the battle. "What was it?" She asked lowly as she faced him. "Deer...bobcat? Or perhaps something more...formidable?" Fat chance it had been a bear, though she would have delighted in such cruel karma.

The squelching sound eminating from the beast and its meal ceased for a moment as ruby eyes stared through the fog and onto a new figure that came near. With the scent of the springs and his own carcass, he couldn't smell the copper that eminated from the female's body, indicating her own gorebath that had happened just moments ago. Perhaps for her luck he was feeding already - otherwise her own scent would bring the hungry demon knocking on her door for a taste.

Gore dribbling from how maw, a pink muscle rose from the depth of his daggered cavern as he washed away the grime before speaking. Rising his heaad above his shoulders in order to get a better look at the female. A brother. Barritones resonated from the beast's vocals as he spoke the two, simple, words. Does it disappoint you. With one more wipe over with that tongue, he finished... for now. It was unlikely someone else would come by to scavenge off his own kill - it would surprise him to find many cannibals around. Enough to make an impact on his own diet. 

 If a bath is what you seek. I promise... The water is clean. A grin cracked his lips.

Filthy, bloodied and more than a little sore, she ignored the burning of her protesting muscles. She stood, poised while looking the fellow wolf over. He was a giant...dressed in hues not too far off from those of her own coat. His searing red eyes were a contrast against his face, to which silver latched. 

The shadow keeper showed not so much as a flinch when his head lifted, chunks of bloodied gore dripping from his jowls. Her stomach wouldn't turn that easy. She had indulged in rotting flesh before...and if it came down to it, she'd do it again. You would think she had learned her lesson the first time. Flexing her pelvis, she lowered her rump to the uneven ground to sit. A single dark brow arched up. "Interesting choice..." She drawled in her low, smooth voice. "Disappointed? No...though my hunger is for something....else..." Her face darkened at the thought of the bear. She'd make it pay. She made a contemplative rumbling noise in her throat, as if not entirely convinced by his promise that the water was untainted. Hadn't he dragged the carcass out of the very pool by which he rested? Silently, she dipped her forepaws into the spring of her own choosing, mercury gaze still fixated on him. "Tell me...what do we taste like?" She asked with an intent dip of her chin.

Unfazed by the gore before her, the woman dipped her paw into the water and continued with odd questions. She was a strange one, but his interest was won over. What is it that you hunger. He pressed, clearly interested in her answer. Her tone and expression was dark, tantilizing and teasing him with a sultry answer that would spark life into his own carcass he called a body.

Meat. The answer so simple, so cold and unfeeling. It was clear that he thought of anything living to be fair game, and taste meant little. If I had to compare... like canid. There was no comparison he could think of. Venison had its own flavour, undulates in general had their own flavour. So did rabbit. Bird. Canines had their own flavour. Heavy. Fatty. Nutritious. Unlike deer, theres plenty of fat to keep you full for a long time.

There was thought in his process. It wasn't out of hate, spite, or out of the need to be "Evil". It was just food to him. A means to survival. 

He was still in his posture, unmoving as he waited for her reply to his own question regarind what she was starving for. She had a good amount of meat on flesh, some healthy fat - so there was something of interest behind her words.

Carefully, almost delicately, she felt the bottom of the pool inch by inch with her paws, though the motion would likely go unnoticed due to her position. She was searching for any trace of bodies...objects that didn't belong. She felt none, and was satisfied. By the end of her bath, she may emerge smelling like rotten eggs but she could rectify that by rolling in some cedar and pine needles later.

Her reply was a one worded one, simply stated. "Ursine." She ground the word out from between her teeth, laced with bitterness. An idle flick of her tongue tore away some of the crusted blood from her lips. It was the blood of her enemy, the closest she would come to ever dining on such an unobtainable meal. Fire burned in her eyes, even as they conversed. If she ever saw that bear again or it's spawn, she'd make them pay...

"Really. I always imagined we taste more grimy...stringy." She mused aloud, contemplating the gruesome remains of his feast, while he, her. If he thought getting his teeth into her flesh for a sample was easy, he was mistaken. Tzila was a hardened survivor. Or so she believed. She had after all, just emerged in one piece with one of her most formidable rivals. "What a poor soul...but then again, it is survival of the fittest. The law that governs all." Cruel as it may be to think of, Lily and Ariel had perished because they were weak. Weak in the eyes of that bear and nature had played her card.

Cocking a brow, her response was certainly very interesting. Even he hasn't tasted bear in the flesh, but perhaps her hunger was something else other than related to one's stomach. Colour me intrigued. Barritones rumbled as he spoke, odd softly for one with such brass vocals.

Ursine is an odd target for a wolf. Almost impossible for one.. even two of our kind to take down alone. Pray tell. What is your plan. Stepping forward, he perched himself on the edge of the water. Haunches rolling into a sit as his thick tail lazily threw itself onto the ground in a slow snaking motion.

There had to be a reason why she was dead set on such an unconventional target, a story behind her rage; but it was something he would find out either at her own pace, or another time. He was interested in knowing what would spur such a flame in the first place, just not enough to press a woman who seems to have stared death in the face just moments ago... there were other things he wanted to know first.

She swung her hips around, ducking the lower half of her body in the water while her chest, shoulder and fore legs remained exposed. Tzila was comfortable in this poised position, facing the ruddy male. She was the picture of elegance and barely contained feralness, while the fruits of her efforts slid in rivets of her raven fur, staining the water red. The brimstone color adorning her nape remained - a permanent bloodstain she wore proudly. And if your train of thought was particularly twisted, a clue to her lack of total innocence.

As he lifted himself up and neared her, his curiosity lit aflame, she held his ember eyes fast. Her lips quivered, partly in a smirk and partly in desire to flash her sabers at the images of the brutish bear flashing in her minds eye. Would he dare join her? Or better yet, would she dare lure him in. "Revenge. Torture their young...bait them." Her pink tongue flickered out over her teeth as she spoke. "One was idiotic enough desecrate my home...slay two of my kin..." She voiced lowly, though nothing in her words said that she wholly pitied the lives of those lost.

Ruby eyes glacing down at the woman in the bath. Tendrils of deep and vibrant reds eminated from her body - blood. It was unmistakable. He bathed in it multiple times, of his own and of others. The most recent fight had his underbelly and face scratched up, the wound on his belly was far more severe, but nothing that won't heal in time. He wondered if her own paint was her own, or that of the opponent she had oh so recently faced.

From her words, said opponent may have been a bear.

A single brow quirked as she continued her words. Revenge. Torture. There it was, her opponent was a bear. One who challanged more than one wolf to a battle to the death, one of which two wolves had lost their life from both their knowledge. Do you have a plan. He beckoned her to continue. 

Vengeance's focus was all on this interesting female, what was her plan... what was she to do. How would it be done.